Across the nation

Posted: November 29, 2012 - 1:21am

WASHINGTON

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed to congressional leaders Wednesday for quick action on providing tens of billions of dollars in new federal aid to help his city and state and others recover from Superstorm Sandy but was told it might be some time before it’s forthcoming — and it likely won’t be all at once.

Bloomberg met with more than a half-dozen lawmakers, including several who chair or sit on committees controlling the government’s purse strings, as well and both parties’ leaders in the House and Senate.

“Hurricane recovery is not a partisan issue,” he told reporters at a news conference in between the meetings. “We have to bring together both sides in Washington.”

ATLANTA

The parents of a south Georgia college student first learned from Facebook that their daughter had been found dead in a dormitory study room shortly before Thanksgiving. Now, they hope that Facebook and other social media sites can help solve the death of 17-year-old Jasmine Benjamin, which police are investigating as a homicide.

The Valdosta State University freshman was found unresponsive on a study room couch on Nov. 18.

A family friend forwarded the Facebook post about the teen’s death to her parents before they were officially notified by authorities, said A. Thomas Stubbs, an attorney for the victim’s mother, Judith Brogdon, and her stepfather, James Jackson. But many questions remain unanswered about how she died.

BENTONVILLE, Ark.

A 6-year-old Arkansas girl who was the victim in an abuse case last year and was found dead this past week in a vacant house in her neighborhood was suffocated and apparently raped, authorities said in a court document released Wednesday.

Jersey Bridgeman died of asphyxia or lack of oxygen, and physical evidence also showed signs of her being sexually assaulted, according to the document.

Zachary Holly, a 28-year-old neighbor accused of killing Jersey, appeared in court Wednesday for the first time since his Monday arrest. Holly, his arm shaking, listened as rape was added to the list of other charges he faces: capital murder, kidnapping and residential burglary.

NEW YORK

An 80-foot Norway spruce that made it through Superstorm Sandy was transformed into a beacon of shimmering glory Wednesday when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others turned its lights on at Rockefeller Center.

Thousands of onlookers crowded behind barricades on the streets that surrounded the center during the traditional tree-lighting ceremony for the Christmas holiday season. A video screen projected an image of the tree for those who did not have a direct line of sight.

SALT LAKE CITY

A Utah truck driver alleges FedEx fired him because of his Russian accent, even though he offered to appear before corporate higher-ups to demonstrate his English-speaking abilities.

Ismail Aliyev has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the Memphis, Tenn.-based shipping company and the long-haul contractor that employed him and was ordered to do the firing.